Howie’s point of view
“That was very reckless.”
Both me and Nick had woken up in a cold
basement, tied to chairs, a few minutes previously.
Nick looked up and was about to retort, but I
cut him off, “ –but it saved AJ! That was very brave as well!”
He kept quiet.
A minute of silence passed.
“Sorry I got you captured, man!” Nick
apologised.
“At least they didn’t kill us! Let’s be optimistic!”
I suggested.
“And I’m sorry about running off like that!
Something just snapped and… well… I just got so pissed off I had to smash
something off someone!” Nick dismayed.
“Don’t’ blame ya, man!” I replied. And I really
didn’t.
“The next time I see another Kindorian, bar Jen
and Tohja, I’m gonna kick his furry butt!!” Nick fumed, getting angry again.
“Nick, we’re tied to chairs in a basement
guarded by at least half a dozen armed aliens. Don’t be ridiculous!” I stated.
“Where there’s a will there’s a way!” he
snapped.
“You’re being irrational!” I claimed.
“Of course I’m being irrational!” he exclaimed.
“I’m in love!”
I shook my head and sighed.
It wasn’t long before the guards came. But they
had someone unexpected with them.
“Tohja?” I muttered in surprise as the small
Kindorian was dragged into the basement and dumped on the floor. It looked like
he had been given the same treatment as we had. He was out cold.
“What did you guys do to him?” Howie asked.
“He were sneakin’ around outside so we hit him
with the butt of our rifles like we did with you!” one of them claimed,
sneering.
“And the Lieutenant wants to see you, blondie!”
the other guard stated, pointing at me menacingly.
I was untied, but Howie’s concerned look
stopped me from trying anything. I was led away as Tohja was tied to my chair.
After having my hands tied behind my back and
being dragged away, I was taken to another room. Another familiar face met my
gaze.
“Nick?”
“Jen!” I cried out happily. She ran up to me
and held me tightly in a hug. Resting my chin on her shoulder, I looked over to
a new Kindorian I’d never seen before. I guessed he ranked highly as he was
dressed differently to the other soldiers.
The leader signalled to the two guards, and
they pulled me out of Jen’s grasp and pushed me down on a chair.
“See, Kar’Sanah? We caught him!” the Lieutenant
pointed out.
“OK, I believe you, Hon’Kaarn. Just don’t hurt
him!” Jen pleaded.
“I’ll do whatever it takes!” he growled.
I was just about to drift into sleep when Tohja
woke up with a start.
“Kar’Sanah!!” he yelled in panic. He quickly
looked around and moaned unhappily when he realised where he was.
“Tohja, you’re awake!” I exclaimed. “You got
caught too, huh? I didn’t expect that!”
“I’m glad you have faith in me, but not even
I’m perfect!”
“I’ll second that, but…. Who or what is
Kar’Sanah?” I queried.
“Oh, that’s Jen’s real name.”
“Sounds a bit like yours,” I commented.
“Yeah, the ‘Kar’ bit is our family name. The
bit afterwards is the given name.” He explained.
“So how do we get outta here?” I asked.
“I wouldn’t know. I’ve never had to escape from
my own race before!”
“Makes sense. Where’d they take Nick?”
Tohja stopped trying to wriggle out of his
tight ropes and his eyes widened. “They have Nick?!”
“Yeah, they took him away when they dumped you
in here, is that bad?”
He hung his head sadly and his ears drooped
sadly, “Very. They gonna use him to try and make Jen and me agree to go home.”
“What’ll they do to him?” I asked, my voice
shaking.
“I don’t know exactly, but it won’t be nice!”
Tohja dismayed. “If they get desperate, they might kill him!”
I sat in shock for about five seconds then we
both started to struggle harder.